Which is what circles many of us back to the notion that it is not faulty pumps, rather something is causing pumps to fail in some cars. Odds are against cars with repeated replacements getting faulty pump after faulty pump after faulty pump - to me this says something is causing the pumps to fail, not the pumps keep failing. Especially considering there are many early build original pumps still out there, some with 50, 60, 70k on them.

What are eluding to...fuel? I've heard the argument about the ethanol levels. I also wonder if there are people not using premium fuel and what effect that would have.

RELAX! I've had this happen on my 2007 335i and "limp mode" just makes the car less peppy (sorta like your Saturn, Blazer or Honda). You can easily keep it at highway speeds and accellerate reasonably.

WTF do so many people assume that all failures cause the same effect ????? Get it through your heads, it happened to me, pump failed, car ran on 3 cycinders (misfiring on 4,5,6) dumping fuel out one tailpipe due to the misfires, and it was all i could do to go 30mph .... Meanwhile smoking like hell due to the fuel in the exhaust....

I wish everyone posting that you don't lose that much power would shut up.... SOME times you won't lose power, but SOMETIMES YOU LOOSE A LOT OF POWER !!!!!

People who post like above are as bad as BMW, pretending like it's not a problem.....

I JUST finished watching the NIghtline right now on ABC 7. All I can say is, FU**#$&... cuz there goes our resale values boys.

Although ABC achieved a victory in forcing a massive, perhaps useless recall, they have totally destroyed our vehicle resale value.

Not only that, the image and reputation may have been potentially stained for years. I also feel bad for the N55 owners because they didn't mention about N55 owners. I'm sure N55 will have to wait 4 years before they can get enough "data" and complaints to do a recall.

Which is what circles many of us back to the notion that it is not faulty pumps, rather something is causing pumps to fail in some cars. Odds are against cars with repeated replacements getting faulty pump after faulty pump after faulty pump - to me this says something is causing the pumps to fail, not the pumps keep failing. Especially considering there are many early build original pumps still out there, some with 50, 60, 70k on them.

+1.... it is logical to think that It's gotta be something else somewhere in the system causing the failures... I have a mid 2007 build 335i with 41k miles and the original HPFP... not a single sympom to date (knock on wood).

Ok, so I just got to the office after dropping my car off. I asked my SA about the impending recall, and though he was aware of it he didn't work for BMW full time (this dealer has BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Infiniti, etc...) so it's understandable his knowledge may be more limited than others. He basically told me at this time, they do a key read, and based on what it says either do nothing or update to the latest software. If there is reasonable doubt as to the fuel pump's immediate longevity they will pull it and pressure test it, PUMA approved, and replace it (again if PUMA approves). Sound familiar?

So as far as I'm concerned, at this point, the letter is exactly what we all thought - a simple announcement to hedge against bad PR from the GMA/Nightline stories. I would've stuck around to talk to a full time BMW SA or the BMW Service Manager, but I was already running late and they were pretty backed up as well. No reason to inconvenience both parties just to hear the same "explanation" from someone higher on the BMW service food chain.

What are eluding to...fuel? I've heard the argument about the ethanol levels. I also wonder if there are people not using premium fuel and what effect that would have.

I'm not alluding to fuel at all - pumps fail all over the world and while many will ask "why do we hear so many in the US/NA," a simple look at this forum's membership explains this - an e90post survey reported something to the effect of 82% of membership in the US, with another 8 or 9% in Canada. So it is completely consistent that we hear about more North American pumps failing.

IF this somehow turns out to be fuel related, whether it's just another smokescreen or an actual contributor, does not somehow get BMW off the hook for anything. They know exactly where they sell cars and have been doing so for decades - it is up to the manufacturer to produce a product that lives up the customer's satisfaction within the market they bought the product in. It's not like we're all importing these grey market from Europe - these are cars certified North America, and should work as well here as anywhere else.

The only thing related to fuel one might reasonable hold is that we have gasoline DI, not diesel DI. Diesel DI has been used for years and quite reliably. Many, but not all, manufacturers of gasoline DI engines have experienced problems with the fuel system, but none to the extent with these fuel pumps.

I'm not alluding to fuel at all - pumps fail all over the world and while many will ask "why do we hear so many in the US/NA," a simple look at this forum's membership explains this - an e90post survey reported something to the effect of 82% of membership in the US, with another 8 or 9% in Canada. So it is completely consistent that we hear about more North American pumps failing.

IF this somehow turns out to be fuel related, whether it's just another smokescreen or an actual contributor, does not somehow get BMW off the hook for anything. They know exactly where they sell cars and have been doing so for decades - it is up to the manufacturer to produce a product that lives up the customer's satisfaction within the market they bought the product in. It's not like we're all importing these grey market from Europe - these are cars certified North America, and should work as well here as anywhere else.

The only thing related to fuel one might reasonable hold is that we have gasoline DI, not diesel DI. Diesel DI has been used for years and quite reliably. Many, but not all, manufacturers of gasoline DI engines have experienced problems with the fuel system, but none to the extent with these fuel pumps.

+ largest market for bmw is USA

+ largest market for large engined, high powered engines is USA (ie. 335, 8 cylinders etc)

+1.... it is logical to think that It's gotta be something else somewhere in the system causing the failures... I have a mid 2007 build 335i with 41k miles and the original HPFP... not a single sympom to date (knock on wood).

Agreed. 45k on an 11/06 build with non-recurring and very minor symptoms. If it was simply a QC problem in pump manufacturing, this problem would have been easy enough to sort out. The fact that the same pump that lasts for 5 or 10k mi in one car will last over 50 in another is suspicious to me.

A simple parallel - take fuses. When a fuse blows, you replace it. When it blows over and over and over, you're not simply replacing fuses. You're looking for what's causing the fuses to blow. The probability of getting defective fuses is a lot lower than the probability of some externalities causing fuses to blow.

+ largest market for large engined, high powered engines is USA (ie. 335, 8 cylinders etc)

Last I saw was that Europe was BMW's largest market, with China/NA second and third, depending on what source you consult (some maintain that China is becoming their 2nd largest market, and others that it already has)

But our tax schedule certainly does not disincentivize larger displacement motors as other countries do.

Perhaps it has something to do with the way the car is being driven. I am not by any stretch implying that the owners with multiple failures are mistreating their cars but it does seem strange that some cars have had multiple failures and some cars have had none.

Perhaps it has something to do with stop and go traffic, rapid acceleration, sustained high speed cruising, etc.?

Is it just me or is this problem going to forever plague this engine and really never been fixed? This engine/fuel pump has been in production since 2006. That's 4 years to not come up with a solution.

I'm on my second pump (and I know others have had a lot more) and now I'm seriously contemplating getting rid of the car especially with the newest software update totally killing any type of driving pleasure I had with this car. I paid the extra to get the 335i and I don't see the point anymore.